One of the more notorious albums in the history of vocal music, What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! is the lush session that bumped up Dinah Washington from the "Queen of the Blues" to a middle-of-the-road vocal wondress – and subsequently disenfranchised quite a few jazz purists…

Cookin' In The Kitchen with Dinah: A Tribute To Dinah Washington. The third album by Northwest vocalist Kathryn Hettel is a collection of her favorite songs from the iconic Dinah Washington. Spanning genres of Jazz, Blues, Pop and Soul. The album pays loving tribute to "The Queen,' as well as expands on the sounds from her repertoire. The album was a three year project in which Hettel and her co-producers, Engineer Steve Feasely and Drummer Rick J Bowen, saw to fruition an idea hatched a decade previous. Kathryn has been singing Dinah's songs for years always striving to emulate the sass and style of Dinah. In 2014 a skilled rhythm section of Darrius Willrich on Piano & Keyboards, Patrick McDanel Bass, Rick J Bowen on Drums, and guitarist Kevin Andrew Sutton laid down the basic tracks.

Dinah Washington was arguably the first Queen of Soul, having gained herself the soubriquet ‘The Queen’ in music circles of the early 1950s through the volume of hit records and performance notices achieved in the first decade of her career. She rose from the clubs and bars of Southside Chicago in the mid-1940s to enjoy a wealth of hit singles - some 40 reaching the Billboard R&B charts through the 1950s as Mercury Records reaped the value of her talent with almost as many albums. It wasn’t until 1959 that Dinah scored her first major Hot 100 hit, with ‘What A Diff’rence A Day Makes’, a turning point which also brought about hit duets with label-mate Brook Benton. With the new decade came a move to Roulette Records, where producer Henry Glover, as well as recording her on classy ballads and standards, invigorated her sound, turning back to the blues, whilst remaining at the forefront of the emergent soul market. Just as her career was about to reach new heights, galvanised by a new and diverse style, on the evening of December 14, 1963, Dinah took several sleeping pills after a heavy drinking session and didn’t make it to the next morning.

This 20-track compilation released as a joint venture by Verve and Blue Note, covers a lot of ground – from 1943 to 1962 – but then, so did Dinah Washington. She sang down and dirty blues, lush ballads, romantic standards, sophisticated R&B, swinging jazz, and even country, and this disc gives a taste of each style. Her earliest recordings were rooted in the blues and are represented by 1943's low-down and nasty "Evil Girl Blues," 1951's "New Blowtop Blues," and the filthy and funny "Big Long Slidin' Thing" from 1954. By the mid-'50s Washington had segued into a more sophisticated jazz style. Her version of "Teach Me Tonight" from 1954 featuring Hal Mooney's orchestra is seminal, her recording of "White Gardenia" from 1955 nothing short of heartbreaking. She also did an incredible cover of Hank Snow's country hit "I Don't Hurt Anymore" in 1954.

Dinah Washington recorded a stunning amount of material in her too-short career (when she died in Detroit in 1963 she was only 39 years old – somehow she still managed to find time for seven marriages), most of it during her lengthy association with Mercury Records between 1948 and 1955. Washington seemingly tackled everything under the sun in the recording studio, cutting jazz, R&B, blues, and pop sides with an assortment of small groups, trios, sextets, and increasingly, toward the end of her life, with large orchestras, and if she seemed to be gradually fading into blander and sleeker arrangements as time went on, her voice always remained focused and coiled, and her bluesy phrasing has influenced far more singers than most folks realize.

Since her youth Franklin had admired Dinah Washington, and it's a safe bet that the level of emotional commitment Washington brought to her work was a major influence on the blossoming style of Aretha, not to mention Washington's effortless sense of swing. Shortly before she died, Washington took appreciate notice of her acolyte as well. So Aretha's tribute to Washington is as logical as it is satisfying. Recorded when Aretha was just 21, Unforgettable is somewhat of a departure from her more R&B-oriented early work.

Recorded between 1946 & 1959. Includes liner notes by John Litweiler.All tracks have been digitally remastered.This is part of the Verve Jazz Masters series.Dinah Washington's Verve Jazz Masters, Vol. 19 may not be a definitive overview of her time at the label, but it's nevertheless a good 16-track sampler, containing excellent versions of such songs as "What a Difference a Day Makes," "Please Send Me Someone to Love," "Cold, Cold Heart," "This Can't Be Love," "A Foggy Day," "Pennies from Heaven," "Our Love is Here to Stay" and "Unforgettable." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

One of the most beloved vocalists of the past century, Dinah Washington (1924-1963) was justly celebrated for her very personal singing style that was at home in all types of music, be it blues, jazz, R&B or pop. In this respect, she was gifted with an unmistakable salty, high-pitched voice that was perfect for her complete clarity of fiction and her phrasing with strong roots in the blues. An artist who led a very turbulent personal life, Dinah Washington was known for her no-nonsense, unsentimental, yet always moving renditions centred on the universal subject of lost love.

Five CDs and 94 tracks from her 1962-63 recording sessions give this complete Dinah Washington collection from Mosaic ample opportunities for extended listening. Five hours of Ms. Washington's expressive way with a song tell a long and detailed story.

The Ultimate Verve series presents "Best of" collections with a difference: Today's top jazz artists select and share their thoughts on their favorite performances by the jazz giants. It's a perfect introduction to the masters of jazz. Abbey Lincoln remembers going to see Dinah Washington sing in Chicago: "She asked me what I wanted to sing. I told her 'T'ain't Nobody's Business'…I didn't know that Dinah sang it as well." The audience liked Lincoln, but when she exited, Washington sang "Back Water Blues…," and she "just tore the house down."